Pubdate: Sat, 09 Jan 2016
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2016 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/send_a_letter
Website: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: Kristy Kirkup
Page: A13

FORMER TOP COP POINT MAN ON POT

Liberal appointee worries legalized-marijuana activist

OTTAWA - Some members of the marijuana movement are concerned about
the government's decision to make Toronto's former police chief a
point man on legalizing pot, activist and former Liberal hopeful Jodie
Emery said Friday.

Liberal MP Bill Blair, parliamentary secretary to Justice Minister
Jody-Wilson Raybould, has been tapped to take a leading role on the
file, working closely with the departments of Justice, Public Safety
and Health.

"The minister of justice and her colleagues are confident that
parliamentary secretary Blair's experience and background in public
safety will be a great asset to the government's work to ensure a
careful and thoughtful approach to the legalization and regulation of
marijuana," said Justice spokesman Andrew Gowing.

Emery, whose husband, Marc, is Canada's self-styled "prince of pot,"
said she has her doubts, considering police have traditionally been
champions of cracking down on marijuana, not legalizing it.

"One of my concerns and one of the biggest concerns of the marijuana
movement, the community who have been fighting for this for decades...
is that police have always been the biggest cheerleaders for
prohibition, and they've been our adversaries in this whole historical
movement," she said.

Emery, who tried to run for a Liberal nomination last year but was not
recommended by the party, said she understands why the government is
turning to Blair for public relations reasons.

"The Liberals suffered a lot of attacks from the Conservatives over
legalization," she said.

"With the whole world watching Canada right now, the Liberal
government doesn't want to be seen as pro-pot; they don't want to be
perceived as legalizing it to make Canada into a weed country."

The choice of Blair suggests the government understands the various
challenges and public safety concerns that come with legal marijuana,
Canadian Police Association president Tom Stamatakis said in a statement.

"We look forward to working constructively with him on this
file."

Adam Goldenberg, a lawyer at McCarthy Tetrault with expertise in
marijuana regulation, said he wasn't surprised to see Blair chosen to
fill the role.

"If your message is crime control and public safety, you can't ask for
a better spokesperson than a former police chief," said Goldenberg, a
former speechwriter for then-Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff.

"It's going to be very difficult to point at an MP whom most of us are
used to seeing in a highly decorated police uniform and accuse him of
being soft on crime."

Blair also represents a riding in Scarborough, one of several in the
Toronto area that are likely to be Liberal-Tory battlegrounds in the
next election, Goldenberg added.

"One suspects that the (Prime Minister's Office) sees Mr. Blair as the
right person in the right place at the right time."

The first step in the process is to establish a provincial,
territorial and federal task force that would consult public health,
substance abuse and safety experts.

Blair will work with that panel, once convened, to develop legislative
and policy responses on this issue, Gowing said.
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